Gathroc The Betrayer's page

It was bright, beautiful, spring day outside. Birds chirping, sun shining, almost storybook in it’s perfection. Inside General Narsius’ tent however, it was anything but. It was dark, foreboding, and it seemed cool, despite not actually being colder. It was silent, except for the steady, measured breathing of the general as he poured over reports.

It had been three months since she died. Twelve weeks since the folly of man had caused the flame of his immortal love to be snuffed out. Ninety days since he took her life. Every day, every hour, every minute since, his hate, his wrath grew. It was their fault, they had summoned her, goaded her into battle against an unstoppable foe. Now she was dead, and he vowed he would have his revenge, no matter the cost.

The war against the Whispering Tyrant was at a stalemate. The hordes of undead clashed time and again with the allied forces arrayed against them, but neither side would give. Thus, his battalion of the fabled Knights of Ozem was essential to turn the tide in their favor. Six hundred battle hardened soldiers, ready to help defeat the greatest threat to mankind. A veritable legion of attendants, blacksmiths, weapon and armor smiths, cooks, boyers and fletchers. Scores of wagons, laden with supplies, replacement gear, tools and more. As every able bodied person was needed to win this war, wives and children beyond counting accompanied their men, tending to the myriad needs of an army on the move.

Suddenly the temperature in the room drooped, as did the ambient light. Narsius could feel a presence enter and looked up. Before him was a ghastly sight. A skeletal man with skin stretched tight across its bones, draped in regal apparel. A sort of twisted crown was atop his brow and a wicked, warped staff was gripped in one hand. Red pinpricks took the place of his eyes. Power, dread, and evil emanated from him in waves. When it spoke, it was in a hollow, ancient voice, that seemed to echo from ages long past. One could do nothing but listen to such a being as a lich.

As it spoke, it laid out a vile, terrible plan of deepest betrayal and horrific consequences, regardless of the choice Narsius made. Yet should the general comply, unimaginable rewards would be his; vast incredible riches, immense untold power, and most important of all, immortality. All the means he would need to exact his revenge.

The cost would absolute, and final. There would be no coming back from this act of treachery most foul. He would be turning his back on his people, and would forever lose his humanity. Bards would tells stories of the great betrayer of man for countless generations, and people the world over would curse his name, and his very existence.

While Narsius’ hatred burned hotter than the noonday sun, what was being asked of him was no light task. It would rightly go down as one of the greatest betrayals in all of history, if not the greatest. Several thousand would be slain, and many would be raised as undead, turned on their brethren, and being denied their final rest in the Boneyard or beyond. Their souls would be trapped in dead, decaying bodies, until they were destroyed. He would need time to think. To consider if the benefits truly outweighed the drawbacks, as both were great indeed.

Throughout the day, as he went about his daily routine, the general pondered the offer. As he sat with his inner circle of advisors, he wondered if he could consign them all to death, and worse. While he ate with his lieutenants, he contemplated the tremendous power and wealth he would be awarded, should he allow his men and their families be lead to a slaughter. Deep into the night he thought of all of this and more.

When the lich returned several hours past midnight, Narsius had made his decision. The deal was struck, the bargain made, and the contract signed, ensuring his damnation, but also his revenge. For what was the cost of several thousand lives if their end brought about the destruction of those who had wronged him, destroying his life and his love.

The trap, once sprung, was insidiously evil in its genius, and coldly calculating in its execution. After being on the road for five days, they came upon a large, abandoned town. Unbeknownst to all save Narsius, the night before the lich had come to the town and murdered all its occupants, raising them as undead. It then hid them in the various basements around the town, waiting for the caravan to arrive.

Arrive it soon did, several hours before sunset the day after the town wide massacre had occurred. As they were deep in the heart of enemy territory, the general ordered the wagons to surround the town, to serve as makeshift wall. He split his soldiers, half on the outside to guard the majority of the non combatants, half on the inside to get proper bed rest for the night. Then, they would switch, and those on the outside would sleep in beds during the day, before setting out again after lunch the next day.

Of course, none of that happened. Just after midnight, the lich lead its forces from their underground hiding spots and began the systematic extermination of all those within the town. Meanwhile, it’s vampiric second lead another horde of undead to slaughter those on the other side of the wagons. At the height of this brutal carnage, skeletal archers rained down flaming arrows, igniting all the wagons, creating a wall of fire that cut off the two halves of the army, and preventing either side from assisting the other.

As Narsius walked through the center of the town, murdering his former friends and allies, he came upon the dying archbishop of Sarenrae, a middle-aged man from the town he grew up in. Then just a priest, the Sarenanite had become a sort of secondary father figure to Narsius, more so after his real father died. Begging to be saved, the general kick him away. Summoning all the divine energy he had left, and evoking his deity’s name, he laid a powerful death curse on the man who he had once considered a son with his last breath.

Immediately, a transformation began, as all the vile wickedness within Narsius’ dark heart welled up and started to warp his body. Gone was the once handsome, striking face who features marked him a pure-blooded Azlanti, replaced by the countenance of a fiend most foul. When the terrible process was complete, no longer was there a man who had been the embodiment of goodness and righteousness that was a former leader of the Knights of Ozem. In its stead stood a being so evil Hell itself spat him back out. At that moment, Narsius the mighty general died, and the great betrayer was born.

Soon after, he met the lich, who bestowed upon him a crown of blackest night, and dubbed him Gathroc, champion of the Whispering Tyrant.

I wouldn't mind wielding you either Ten, plus you'd get the Frost and Keen properties for free :)

Would I be able to depower this character to I believe two levels of Weapon Master(Fighter) and use 5 of my 7 levels and my two bonus levels to absorb the CR 7??

Gathroc unsheathes Zhennuelge, and motions for Vesta to go, assuming the rest are ready.

Gathroc ponders the ghost wolf's plans "How about knocking on the front door, but with Gabriel on your shoulder to launch an ambush on whoever answers?"

::"As soon as it gets dark, we should strike. Having the cover of the night may not hinder them, but it will surely aid us."

Now that's a suggestion I would have made in character, but clearly didn't think of IRL, thanks Voice!

::"Gabe, while Vesta goes and does her thing, why don't you attempt to lure a good portion of these animals on a merry chase through the woods. This will allow the rest of us to ransack the village, perhaps destroying any weapons we come across and taking whatever we can for ourselves."

Understood, but Gathroc wasn't sure what the big werewolf was off to go do. So, intelligence gathering. Remember, he was an elven general in life, so he's thinking liking a general. Aka, not rushing off to slaughter the enemy, in case he happens to group up with allies, has a magical way to leave, etc. I'm just trying to roleplay out how I view him being not cautious per se, but intelligent and strategic minded.

EDIT: Also did you not just say, "hey, let's trail that guy and find out where he lives so we can kill him later"....and is that not what I suggested Vesta go and do? Do all of us, including the not very sneaky Dullahan, need to go traipsing through the woods, or can I send the incredibly sneaky ghost to seek out the enemy's lair

I realize that sounds a little snarky, or annoyed, but I am trying to advance this, in apparently the exact same way you suggested.

::"Why not go invisible and trail them? They might smell you, but all they'll smell is one of their own. Without seeing you, they won't know who or what you are"

Twas my intention to go after the one that left at midnight, not the steriod super wolf

"I don't think you need to be overly friendly with him. Just go and see what he's up to. Act as close as you can to how you're supposed to and learn as much as possible. Might be nothing much, might be something important."

"I would rather not loose an opportunity to gather some potential intel from one of the more important werewolves."

Daemon, do you not posses access to Invisibility magick?"

"Somebody follow the big scarred guy who just left. Stay as out of sight as possible and learn what you can."

Works for me as well. Any other guidance here Voiceless?

"I too like this plan. Do we have any idea which are generals? I don't mind killing off plenty of weaker warriors, but I also don't want to kill off so many that the leader takes note and comes after us."

Exactly what Daemon said. While each leader is as powerful as the Shadow Claw, the discussed plan was just as Daemon laid out.

Gathroc comes up short at the sight of the massive werewolf. "I wonder if one dose of that poison will be enough to incapacitate this monstrosity."

Gathroc joins their host and awaits his explanation.

"Exactly. Though going on this hunt and picking off any other werewolves is too good of an opportunity to pass up."

"Gladly will we join you in the hunt. It would be our honor"

Really? I thought we were waiting cuz the duration was short? or something like that

"When would be best to poison the food? If they take them away without us doing so, this would be quite the wasted endeavor."

"Perhaps Gabriel should go and investigate? Unless you want to go invisibile Vesta, but I would keep the body. If its suddenly 'lifeless', that might be rather hard to explain."

Its ok, I was going to post during the day today, but never got free time at work. Then when I got home, I was so tired, I passed out and forgot. Your post reminded me, so its all good. Besides, I said it that way so I could actually call you a Ghostly Vampire, which is freakin awesome

Gathroc does as the Ghostly Vampire asks, stopping the cart. "Well met" He says by way of greeting.

Should I have made some sort of Disguise check? or did you do that for me?

"Daemon I believe is correct. Also, under our guise, we're vampires and thus an attack during the day would be a total surprise. Not sure if the poison will last long enough however."

Gathroc thinks for a few moments. "Alright, I guess the best plan would be to try and make this delivery as if nothing was amiss. I'l take the appearance of the lead vampire, Vesta shall be one of my spawn, while the rest are allies or hidden from sight. Beyond that, I'm open to suggestions"

"Sounds like a good plan. Anything that gets Vesta excited works for me"

"Well done all. Now then, let's see if this wizard is of any use to us" The emphasis his places on wizard is filled with disgust and disdain.

"If we are to make use of them, then I am for that. Otherwise, allow me to finish them, quickly"

Shouldn't your bow be doing 3d8 on the possible crit, not 2d8?

As I go last, I am going to wait for a few more PC posts before I make my next move

Hehehe, sorry, work was crazy yesterday n didn't do too much after other than attempt to stay cool

Gathroc closes the gap on the lead vampire, once more attempting to strike a mighty blow 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (15) + 27 = 42 Power attacking, Vital Strike for 2d10 + 31 + 1d6 + 2d6 ⇒ (5, 7) + 31 + (1) + (3, 1) = 48

Hey Voiceless,

Now that I have 3 soulpoints, how would you feel about a couple of abilities that allow me to consume more than 1 point at a time?

One thing that I would really like is an AoE/Ranged energy attack. I could pick either each time, perhaps with the AoE costing two points(or more) base, and then having the attack deal damage based on the number of soulpoints I use.

Also, how about an extra attack?

Finally, it would be pretty awesome to have like some badass ability, perhaps that requires at least 10 SPs and consume them all in the process. Not sure what just yet, but it would be kinda cool.

Oh,
and for the record, I am cool with what I can currently do, but I just thought I'd throw these ideas out there. Also, maybe some of them need to be unlocked somehow, so I don't auto have them. If none of these work for you, no worries. I am quite happy with what you've given me so far, but who doesn't want more goodies? LOL

Yes, I know what u said about weekends. I had posted that after u posted several hours prior on the Wolves thread to make sure you didn't forget ur undead buddies :)

redirect to minions, targeting as many as possible.

Gathroc actually chuckles at the vampires evasion "Ah. A craven coward, too afraid to actually stand and fight. Instead you would rather dance around the battlefield like a castoff from a circus. No matter, I shall destroy your minions first, then deal with you".

Waits with undying paitence the result of his attacks

"Neat trick" The Dullahan says when the vampire avoids his initial strike "But can you do it against all my blows?" With that he attacks with the full might of Zhennuelge

1d20 + 29 ⇒ (18) + 29 = 47 Attack 1, Power Attack, possible crit.

1d20 + 33 ⇒ (6) + 33 = 39 Crit confirm

2d10 + 62 + 1d10 + 2d6 ⇒ (8, 10) + 62 + (8) + (6, 4) = 98

1d20 + 21 ⇒ (17) + 21 = 38 Attack 2, Power Attack, possible crit

1d20 + 25 ⇒ (3) + 25 = 28 Crit confirm

1d10 + 31 + 1d6 + 2d6 ⇒ (9) + 31 + (4) + (4, 6) = 54 normal damage

1d20 + 16 ⇒ (4) + 16 = 20 Attack 3, Power Attack

Doubt that one hits

Do I take Viciousness damage if I miss or the blow was evaded?

1d20 + 17 ⇒ (7) + 17 = 24 Will

Gathroc rushes the lead vampire, cutting low to avoid hitting Gabe Charging Power attack 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (7) + 27 = 34 for 1d10 + 29 + 1d6 + 2d6 ⇒ (7) + 29 + (5) + (1, 3) = 45

1d6 ⇒ 1 Viciousness dmg to me

Not sure if I can Vital Strike with charge. If so add another 1d10 ⇒ 9 to my total

I'm going to wait till Gabe posts, in case he takes those AoOs, which might change what ima do.

Very sorry I didn't post this ystrdy. Busy day at work, then I went out. I also just woke up.

Gathroc, sensing the likelihood of combat, yet still wanting to try and draw in some of the enemy, assumes a defensive posture and waits to see if any rush the barn. Total Defense, +4 AC total AC = 28

"What I do is my concern. If you wish to know why I am here, perhaps you can force me to tell you. Though that is highly doubtful"

Checked the map, did the spawn who opened the barn door move back to the wagon and I missed that?

"Drat, you figured me out. Shame that. Means I'm going to have to kill you now. Ah well, that was probably going to happen any way." Gathroc says, still casually leaning on his curveblade.

Yea, but I don't know any of this...all I know is there's a vampire and mohrg that are blinged out in magic items.

But that's not really the point I was making. The two main problems was Vesta and Gabe doing nothing to slow them down after they agreed to, and the fact that we seem to going up against what could best be described as demigod like undead, at least that's how they seem to me

We seem like we're tiptoeing our way through this game, hoping we don't upset anybody too powerful cuz they'll snuff out our unlives, no matter how invincible we think we might be.

EDIT: As for how the plan broke down, it never did. The entire point was to be BAIT, forcing them to come into the barn and try and remove/kill me. At which time Vesta would cause the barn to collapse, which would also bring Ignac tumbling down as well as sunlight to come streaming through.

However, that would have only worked if it was almost sunrise. Instead, we have an hour to kill, because two of the PCs never implemented the actions they agreed upon. So I then had to try and stall for time, though with the out of game revelations above, it may not be necessary but Gathroc doesn't know that...

My problem is twofold at the moment:

Clearly, we're attempting to implement some sort of plan here, which revolved around using the sun to our advantage. The GM can either assist us or not. In this case, it was not. Mild grumbling, but I can't change what your doing, especially since it makes perfect sense for sunlight vulnerable villains to seek shelter with plenty of time to spare.

Beyond this, I had asked Vesta and Gabriel to slow down our enemies, to which they both agreed to. Yet, they did nothing. Now, we're an hour before sunrise and I am feebly attempting to buy us some time and when I feel I have come up with a solution to fixing the problems caused by Vesta and Gabriel not attempting to slow down the vampire and co, you shoot me down and blow my cover.

This is a great game and you know I love ya as GM. However, lately there's been some frustration as it seems like everybody we go after is bigger, meaner, nastier and more powerful than us. Which means we're regulated to bit roles among the vastly superior powers that be...

Instead of us being the "heroes" PCs are supposed to be.

I can't remember the last time my Fighter swung his sword...during that invasion of the the Shadow Claw's lair?? Which was how long ago??

If you really feel like ending this game, then I can't force you to continue to run it. I would however, like to try and figure out a way for all of us to get back to enjoying this game.

Actually, it should be just like speech, which are free actions taking up little time. Obviously, long drawn out conversations would take up significant time. Clearly, that's not what I'm doing here.

::"Now that I think about it, perhaps it might be best to let them go to ground. We then wait out the hour till the sun rises, and attack with its aid. That should give us all the advantage we need"::

::"There's no way to slow them down that long, we have a good hour before the sun makes its fiery appearance. Vesta, if I drop my guise, will you be ready to make Ignac tumble down, provided they come into the barn to try and remove me?"::